Wanna play a game? It's a mind-reading game. Here's how it works. I read your mind. If what I say is right, you take one step towards the chair. If what I say is wrong, you take one step back... towards the doorway. If you reach the chair, you sit down. If you reach the door, you can go. Wanna play?
[Cole nods]
Okay... When your mother and father were first divorced, your mom went to see a doctor like me, and he didn't help her. So you think I'm not going to be able to help you.
[Cole takes a step forward]
You're worried that she said she told him things - things she couldn't tell anyone else... Secrets.
[Cole takes another step forwards]
You have a secret, but you don't want to tell me.
[Cole takes another step forwards] [looking at Cole's watch]
Your dad gave you that watch as a present just before he went away.
Cole Sear [Cole takes a step back]
He forgot it in a drawer. Doesn't work.
You keep pretty quiet in school, but... you're a good student, you've never really been in any serious trouble.
Cole Sear [Cole takes another step back]
We were supposed to draw a picture. Anything we wanted. I drew a man. He got hurt in the neck by another man with a screwdriver.
You saw that on TV, Cole?
Cole Sear [Cole steps back again]
Everyone got upset. They had a meeting. Mom started crying. I don't draw like that anymore.
Cole Sear I draw... people smiling, dogs running, rainbows. They don't have meetings about rainbows.
Cole Sear What am I thinking now?
I don't know what you're thinking now.
Cole Sear [Cole takes his last step back towards the door]
I was thinking... you're nice, but you can't help me.
Once upon a time there was this person named Malcolm. He worked with children. He loved it. He loved it more than anything else. And then one night, he found out that he made a mistake with one of them. He couldn't help that one. And he can't stop thinking about it, he can't forget. Ever since then, things have been different. He's not the same person that he used to be. And his wife doesn't like the person that he's become. They barely speak anymore, they're like strangers. And then one day Malcolm meets this wonderful little boy, a really cool little boy. Reminds him a lot of the other one. And Malcolm decides to try and help this new boy. 'Cause he feels that if he can help this new boy, it would be like helping that other one too.
Cole Sear How does the story end?
Cole Sear I walk this way to school with Tommy Tammisimo.
Cole Sear He hates me.
Cole Sear No.
Did your mom set that up?
Cole Sear Yes.
Do you ever talk to your mom about how things are with Tommy?
Cole Sear I don't tell her things.
Cole Sear Because she doesn't look at me like everybody else, and I don't want her to. I don't want her to know.
Cole Sear That I'm a freak.
Hey... you are not a freak. Okay? Don't you believe anybody that tries to convince you of that. That's bullshit! You don't have to go through your life believing that. Okay?
Cole Sear You said the "s" word.
Stanley Cunningham Philadelphia is one of the oldest cities in this country. A lot of generations have lived here and died here. Almost any place you go in this city has a history and a story behind it. Even this school and the grounds it sits on. Can anyone guess what this building was used for a hundred years ago, before you went to this school, before I went to this school? Yes, Cole?
Cole Sear They used to hang people here.
Stanley Cunningham No, uh, that, mm-mm, that's not correct. Uh, where'd you hear that?
Cole Sear They'd pull the people in, crying and kissing their families goodbye. People watching would spit at them.
Stanley Cunningham Uh, Cole, this, this building was a legal courthouse. Laws were passed here. Some of the very first laws of this country. This whole building was full of, uh, lawyers, uh, lawmakers.
Cole Sear They were the ones that hanged everybody.
Do you know what free association writing is, Cole?
Cole Sear No.
Free association writing is when you take a pencil in your hand and you put the pencil to a piece of paper and you start writing. You don't look at or think about what you're writing. And after a while, you keep writing long enough, words and thoughts come out that you didn't even know you had in you. It could be something you heard, something you saw, or feelings you had deep inside of you. Have you done any free association writing, Cole?
Cole Sear Yes.
Cole Sear Upset words.
Did you write any upset words before your father left?
Cole Sear I don't remember.
Cole Sear I'm ready to tell you my secret now.
Cole Sear I see dead people.
In your dreams? [Cole shakes his head no] While you're awake? [Cole nods] Dead people like, in graves? In coffins?
Cole Sear Walking around like regular people. They don't see each other. They only see what they want to see. They don't know they're dead.
How often do you see them?
Cole Sear All the time.
Note: the bolded line is ranked #44 in the American Film Institute's list of the top 100 movie quotations in American cinema.
Do you know what "Yo no quiero morir" means? It's Spanish. It means "I don't want to die." What do you think these ghosts want when they talk to you? I want you to think about it, Cole. I want you to think about it really carefully.
Cole Sear Just help.
That's right. That's what I think too. They just want help, even the scary ones. I think I might know a way to make them go away.
Cole Sear How?
Cole Sear What if they don't want help? What if they're just angry and they just want to hurt somebody?
I don't think that's the way it works.
Cole Sear How do you know for sure?
Cole Sear You know the accident up there?
Cole Sear Someone got hurt.
Cole Sear A lady. She died.
LS Lynn Sear
Oh, my God. What, you can see her?
Cole Sear Yes.
LS Lynn Sear
Where is she?
Cole Sear Standing next to my window.
LS Lynn Sear
Cole, you're scaring me.
Cole Sear They scare me too sometimes.
Cole Sear Ghosts.
Cole Sear [about his grandmother]
She wanted me to tell you...
LS Lynn Sear
Cole, please stop...
Cole Sear She wanted me to tell you she saw you dance. She said, when you were little, you and her had a fight, right before your dance recital. You thought she didn't come see you dance. She did. She hid in the back so you wouldn't see. She said you were like an angel. She said you came to the place where they buried her. Asked her a question? She said the answer is... "Every day." What did you ask?
LS Lynn Sear
[Crying]
"Do I make her proud?".
Cole Sear You're Stuttering Stanley!
Stanley Cunningham Excuse me?!
Cole Sear You talked funny all the way to school here. You talked funny all the way to high school.
Stanley Cunningham How did you...
Cole Sear Stop looking at me!
Stanley Cunningham Who have you been speaking to?
Cole Sear Stuttering Stanley! Stuttering Stanley!
Stanley Cunningham Stop. St-- St-- St-- Stop that.
Stanley Cunningham [Cole continues and other kids are watching him]
St... St... Stop.
Stanley Cunningham [As Cole continues, the teacher is not happy.]
SHUT UP, YA FREAK!
